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Boyles assumes MIT symphony directorship

Adam Kerry Boyles has been named director of the 123-year-old MIT Symphony Orchestra (MITSO), the Music and Theater Office has announced.

Boyles, who served as music director of the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra from August 2005 until he assumed leadership of MITSO, is an experienced singer and conductor. He said he felt “honored and blessed” to receive the MIT appointment and hoped to “build upon the excellence” of MITSO’s reputation and “expand the range and variety of repertoire.” and

Boyles also expressed excitement at the opportunity to experience the “rich culture and high-quality music-making” of the Boston area and to become part of the city’s artistic fabric.

According to John Harbison, Institute Professor of Music, Boyles’ former colleagues described him as an “inspiring leader.” Harbison was a member of the search committee, comprised of faculty members from MIT’s music and theater arts section, who worked closely with student representatives to select the new MITSO director.

Boyle impressed the committee with his wide background in orchestral, chamber and choral music, demonstrating “a breadth of experience new to orchestral conducting at MIT,” Harbison said.

Boyles made his New York debut with the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra in the 2004 Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar and was invited for a return appearance in April 2005. He has participated in the Oregon Bach Festival, conducting and studying with Helmuth Rilling, and has guest conducted with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra, Austin Chamber Ensemble, Audio Inversions and the University of Arizona Opera Theater.

As staff conductor at Opera in the Ozarks for two summers, he led performances of “Into the Woods” and “Carmen” and assisted with other productions. Boyles has also held instructor positions at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Arizona.

An experienced singer, Boyles performed in numerous operas with the Indiana University Opera Theater and as a chorister in Arizona Opera’s first complete presentation of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen.”

Boyles earned a bachelor of music degree in voice from Indiana University in 2001, where he worked with such conductors as David Effron, Vance George, Imre Pallo, Robert Porco and Erich Kunzel. As a master’s student at the University of Arizona, Boyles studied under Thomas Cockrell, and helped form the school’s second orchestra, the UA Philharmonic, which he conducted and managed in its first two years. He received his doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in December 2005.

Boyles succeeds Dante Anzolini, who served as MITSO’s conductor from 1999 to 2006. Paul Biss has served as interim conductor for the 2006-07 season. A full-sized orchestra, MITSO is comprised of MIT and Wellesley students who are accepted by audition; MITSO performs four concerts annually in Kresge Auditorium.